92 Charles Schuchert — Historical Geology, 1818-1918. 



exponent. It was this theory and the dominance of the 

 brilliant Cuvier, not only in science bnt socially as well, 

 that blotted ont the far more correct views of the more 

 philosophical Lamarck, who held that life thronghont the 

 ages had been continuous and that through individual 

 effort and the inheritance of acquired characters had 

 evolved the wonderful diversity of the present living 

 world 



In 1830 there was a public debate at Paris between 

 Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the one holding to the 

 views of the fixity of species and creation, the other that 

 life is continuous and evolves into better adapted forms. 

 Cuvier, a gifted speaker and the greatest debater zoology 

 ever had, with an extraordinary memory that never 

 failed him, defeated Saint-Hilaire in each day's debate, 

 although the latter was in the right. 



A book that did a great deal to prepare the English- 

 speaking people for the coming of evolution was "Ves- 

 tiges of Creation," published in 1844 by an unknown 

 author. In Darwin's opinion, "the work, from its power- 

 ful and brilliant style . . . has done excellent service 

 ... in thus preparing the ground for the reception of 

 analogous views." This book was recommended to the 

 readers of the Journal (48, 395, 1845) with the editorial 

 remark that "we cannot subscribe to all of the author's 

 views." 



We can probably best illustrate the opinions of Amer- 

 icans on the question of evolution just before the appear- 

 ance of Darwin's great work by directing attention to 

 James D. Dana's Thoughts on Species (24, 305, 1857). 

 After reading this article and others of a similar nature 

 by Agassiz, one comes to the opinion that unconsciously 

 both men are proving evolution, but consciously they are 

 firm creationists. It is astonishing that with their 

 extended and minute knowledge of living organisms and 

 their philosophic type of mind neither could see the true 

 significance of the imperceptible transitions between 

 some species, which if they do not actually pass into, at 

 least shade towards, one another. 



Dana speaks of "the endless diversities in individu- 

 als ' ' that compose a species, and then states that a living 

 species, like an inorganic one, "is based on a specific 

 amount or condition of concentered force defined in the 

 act or law of creation." Species, he says, are perma- 



